How much life out of stock pads?

[SteveB]

From the EBC website - https://www.ebcbrakes.com/ebc-brake-pad-selector-tool/ :

Normal road use - Black
Fast Road use - Yellow
Fast Road + some track - Blue
Mostly track & race - Red

View attachment 76539

EBC Greens are "For spirited street use on lighter sports sedans and hot hatches".
RP1 & RPX seem to be for "TrackDay and or Full Race Competition" only, so maybe not suitable for the road?


There were quite a few Elise owners using EBC Green Stuff for track-use when I used to track my Elise - we're talking 20 years ago now though. I do see that EMC no longer recommend them for track use these days - so it may be that no-one has used these for years. They are very soft and I could next get through a set of pads in one track day - although back then that was with unlimited track time. I still use them on my Elise but just on the road, great feel and very progressive - probably as they are so soft. On my Emira I still have the stock pads. https://www.ebcbrakes.com/products/ebc-greenstuff-brake-pads/

Hi Geoff - EBC are not helping themselves with their colour choice for the 4 groups of pads listed on their website! Clicking on the red circle “full track” pads leads to RP & SR pads not Redstuff. Redstuff pads are listed under “normal urban” along with their entry level Ultimax black pads and Yellowstuff.

 

[geoffbland]

Hi Geoff - EBC are not helping themselves with their colour choice for the 4 groups of pads listed on their website! Clicking on the red circle “full track” pads leads to RP & SR pads not Redstuff. Redstuff pads are listed under “normal urban” along with their entry level Ultimax black pads and Yellowstuff.

Ah OK I see. What a stupid way to illustrate that on the web page then - it completely misled me. So disregarding the colours shown on that page - and drilling down into the next pages it agrees with what you have all been saying:

Green stuff - Road use street. Not track.
Red stuff - Road use only. Not track. Low Dust.
Yellow stuff - Fast street. Limited track use.
Blue stuff - Fast street. Track Use. Low Dust.

RP-1 / RP-X - Track and Race Use
SR11 - Track Endurance Race Use.

I'll correct my previous posts.

 

[geoffbland]

I got a reply from EBC UK that gives a fair bit more detail for all the pads they offer:


Ultimax (black) is a pad that is going to act as an OE replacement pad. This is a suitable pad for those who are simply looking to replace the pads that came on the car from factory and offer no performance benefits.

GreenStuff is a step up from OEM offering an increased brake response from cold or hot and emit less dust than equivalent semi metallic pads. Greenstuff has been proven in tests to stop a vehicle 20 feet sooner than using stock pads. Pads are fully shimmed, chamfered and slotted for silent braking. However, these pads are not for track or regular fast road use.

RedStuff pads are specifically designed for low dust and low noise. While they do have slightly increased bite from OEM, these are not a fast road or track pad by any means. These pads have a very high friction rating, meaning they're designed to be used on your heavier, saloon/SUV's as the weight of the vehicle is what is going to activate the friction material.

YellowStuff compound is a high performance fast road and daily driving pad that works really well from cold. The dust rating is less than OEM parts. Where necessary all pads come with edge chamfers, noise reduction shims and OEM hardware. Brakes feel superb from first touch of the pedal and stay effective right up to race temperatures

BlueStuff is an ultra high friction race pad with a friction level peaking above 0.6 under braking that will generate more G force than most, if not all pads out there. Blues are capable of street use as it bites well from cold. The big advantage of this pad is that it is one of the world's FIRST AND ONLY out of the box pre-bedded race pads that is surface "heat seared or scorched" at the factory. This gives amazing reductions in pad bed-in time on street or track. Also, being a non-metallic aramid base, it reduces rotor wear and eliminates the firework display spark emitted in high speed braking by competitive semi-metallics although, blues are NOT a low dust pad. There is an amount of DUST with these pads. Disc wear is however drastically reduced and pad life enhanced. Discs wear smooth and flat without ridges.


Note that he says Reds are for heavier cars - not really for something like an Emira. But any of the others should be good depending on your driving style and if and how much track use you intend.

I hope this helps everyone and clears up any confusion (especially any that I created with my previous incorrect posts).

 

[Orchardbike]

I got a reply from EBC UK that gives a fair bit more detail for all the pads they offer:


Ultimax (black) is a pad that is going to act as an OE replacement pad. This is a suitable pad for those who are simply looking to replace the pads that came on the car from factory and offer no performance benefits.

GreenStuff is a step up from OEM offering an increased brake response from cold or hot and emit less dust than equivalent semi metallic pads. Greenstuff has been proven in tests to stop a vehicle 20 feet sooner than using stock pads. Pads are fully shimmed, chamfered and slotted for silent braking. However, these pads are not for track or regular fast road use.

RedStuff pads are specifically designed for low dust and low noise. While they do have slightly increased bite from OEM, these are not a fast road or track pad by any means. These pads have a very high friction rating, meaning they're designed to be used on your heavier, saloon/SUV's as the weight of the vehicle is what is going to activate the friction material.

YellowStuff compound is a high performance fast road and daily driving pad that works really well from cold. The dust rating is less than OEM parts. Where necessary all pads come with edge chamfers, noise reduction shims and OEM hardware. Brakes feel superb from first touch of the pedal and stay effective right up to race temperatures

BlueStuff is an ultra high friction race pad with a friction level peaking above 0.6 under braking that will generate more G force than most, if not all pads out there. Blues are capable of street use as it bites well from cold. The big advantage of this pad is that it is one of the world's FIRST AND ONLY out of the box pre-bedded race pads that is surface "heat seared or scorched" at the factory. This gives amazing reductions in pad bed-in time on street or track. Also, being a non-metallic aramid base, it reduces rotor wear and eliminates the firework display spark emitted in high speed braking by competitive semi-metallics although, blues are NOT a low dust pad. There is an amount of DUST with these pads. Disc wear is however drastically reduced and pad life enhanced. Discs wear smooth and flat without ridges.


Note that he says Reds are for heavier cars - not really for something like an Emira. But any of the others should be good depending on your driving style and if and how much track use you intend.

I hope this helps everyone and clears up any confusion (especially any that I created with my previous incorrect posts).

Nice clarification.

I’m surprised with his comments re: weight and the red pads. The Tech guy I spoke to in person, selected the red pads for my Emira.

 

[SoLotus]

I got a reply from EBC UK that gives a fair bit more detail for all the pads they offer:


Ultimax (black) is a pad that is going to act as an OE replacement pad. This is a suitable pad for those who are simply looking to replace the pads that came on the car from factory and offer no performance benefits.

GreenStuff is a step up from OEM offering an increased brake response from cold or hot and emit less dust than equivalent semi metallic pads. Greenstuff has been proven in tests to stop a vehicle 20 feet sooner than using stock pads. Pads are fully shimmed, chamfered and slotted for silent braking. However, these pads are not for track or regular fast road use.

RedStuff pads are specifically designed for low dust and low noise. While they do have slightly increased bite from OEM, these are not a fast road or track pad by any means. These pads have a very high friction rating, meaning they're designed to be used on your heavier, saloon/SUV's as the weight of the vehicle is what is going to activate the friction material.

YellowStuff compound is a high performance fast road and daily driving pad that works really well from cold. The dust rating is less than OEM parts. Where necessary all pads come with edge chamfers, noise reduction shims and OEM hardware. Brakes feel superb from first touch of the pedal and stay effective right up to race temperatures

BlueStuff is an ultra high friction race pad with a friction level peaking above 0.6 under braking that will generate more G force than most, if not all pads out there. Blues are capable of street use as it bites well from cold. The big advantage of this pad is that it is one of the world's FIRST AND ONLY out of the box pre-bedded race pads that is surface "heat seared or scorched" at the factory. This gives amazing reductions in pad bed-in time on street or track. Also, being a non-metallic aramid base, it reduces rotor wear and eliminates the firework display spark emitted in high speed braking by competitive semi-metallics although, blues are NOT a low dust pad. There is an amount of DUST with these pads. Disc wear is however drastically reduced and pad life enhanced. Discs wear smooth and flat without ridges.


Note that he says Reds are for heavier cars - not really for something like an Emira. But any of the others should be good depending on your driving style and if and how much track use you intend.

I hope this helps everyone and clears up any confusion (especially any that I created with my previous incorrect posts).

Thanks very much for getting this clarified. The BlueStuff sounds like what I'm looking for (and the price is right!), and just want to get a confirmation that I'm ordering the right number: DP5042NDX (front) and DP5036NDX (rear). Correct?

 

[geoffbland]

Thanks very much for getting this clarified. The BlueStuff sounds like what I'm looking for (and the price is right!), and just want to get a confirmation that I'm ordering the right number: DP5042NDX (front) and DP5036NDX (rear). Correct?

Sorry, no idea - but you seem to be correct from the web site. Might be easiest to buy them from GRP (here on this website) to be sure you get the right ones - their prices seem to be competitive I think.

 

[RyanGphoto]

My Elise pad wear was similar in the rear, with the inside wearing a lot faster. However, the fronts wore evenly. I think it's just the caliper design. The Elige rear brakes were single piston and had slider pins to the other side. Those create a little bit of resistance, and a little bit less force on the other side as a result.

So far, I've used up four sets of pads on my Emira. The fronts wear a little bit faster than the rears, but the wear has been even side to side. They do wear a little non-uniformly on each pad, with the leading edges of the pads being a tiny bit thinner than the trailing edges.

4 sets of pads??? How many miles do you have on your car? That sounds like a lot, unless you are tracking it consistently!

 

[OppositeLock]

4 sets of pads??? How many miles do you have on your car? That sounds like a lot, unless you are tracking it consistently!

I'm tracking consistently. Pads last 2-3 track days, and that's EBC RP-1's.